The most prestigious competition in club football Champions League has reached the semi-final stage. Four big European clubs remain in the race for the trophy, among them is one club who has surprised a lot of football fans this season. Climbing their way up to the French Ligue-1 just a few years back from now, AS Monaco FC has shown great talent and willpower by reaching the semi-finals this season, already eliminating two big clubs from the competition in the playoffs so far. Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund were no matches for the Monegasques who scored a combined amount of six goals in the first and second legs against both teams. Scoring as many goals as Barcelona this season, Europe`s top scorers Monaco has shown us some very entertaining football throughout the season, and they should be considered as a serious contender for the Champions League title.
Showing posts with label Football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Football. Show all posts
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Friday, March 17, 2017
Monaco thump City in an epic comeback
The
Champions league round of 16 was held in Nyon the 12th December last year.
Finishing second in group C, Manchester City was to face one of the group
winners. Pep Guardiola was surely very happy about the draw result. The
Citizens would face the French club AS Monaco FC avoiding bigger clubs such as
Barcelona and Juventus. With his experience of the European competitions, the
expectations from Pep leading Manchester City to the Champions league glory
this season were quite high.
Monaco,
on the other hand, had lots of ups and downs in the last 15 years from their
last appearance in Champions league finals in the 2003-04 season. They got
relegated to Ligue 2 six years later. The club's fortune changed when Russian
billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev bought the majority of the club in 2011. Just two
years later, Monaco earned their promotion back to Ligue 1 with Claudio Ranieri
as their new manager. In 2013, Monaco spent roughly £140 million on the
transfer market to strengthen their squad (including the transfer of Radamel
Falcao from Atletico). However, there were not many high expectations from the
team due to their inconsistency and considering the amount of money pumped into
Manchester City squad after they were bought by Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Chelsea advance to FA cup semi-finals
The
last remaining quarterfinal of the FA cup was played yesterday evening as Jose
Mourinho`s Manchester United traveled to London, to face Conte`s Chelsea
at Stamford Bridge. Both teams had been in a good form lately, Manchester
United had not lost a league game since their last visit to Stamford Bridge on
the 23rd October last year when Chelsea won the Red Devils 4-0, and Chelsea had
lost just three league games throughout the whole season.
N`golo Kanté scored the only goal of the match to set Chelsea to the
semis ©Getty Images
|
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Camp Nou miracle sees Braca in quarters
The first four teams advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals have been confirmed, and the remaining four round of 16-fixtures will be played next week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Arsenal`s Champions League campaign ended once again at this stage of the competition in a humiliating way, as they lost 10-2 on aggregate to their rivals from Germany Bayern Munchen. The second fixture between these clubs looked promising for The Gunners as Theo Walcott scored for the London club in the first half, raising hope for Wenger's squad towards the second half. Only ten minutes in the second half Arsenal`s captain, French center-back Laurent Koscielny tackles Robert Lewandowski in the penalty area and receives a red card. Lewandowski does not waste the opportunity and scores from the penalty shot, tying the game. With the one man advantage on the pitch, Bayern Munchen dominates the second half, scoring five goals behind Arsenals goalkeeper David Ospina. Winning both the first and second leg 5-1, Bayern Munchen proves that they are still one of the best clubs in Europe, and rightfully take the first spot in the top 8 of this year's Champions League.
Friday, February 24, 2017
Champions League : Playoffs
The first leg of the Champions League playoffs has been played,
and some teams are looking quite comfortable before the second leg that will be
played in three of weeks from now.
The only big surprise so far has been Barcelona`s terrible form in
Paris. Cavani, Di Maria, and Draxler were in top form and made breaking up
Barcelona`s defensive lines look very easy. Losing 4-0 to Paris Saint-Germain,
Barcelona has the worst possible starting point for the second match played on
Camp Nou the 8th of March. Even if Barcelona is known to dominate the pitch in
their home games, it is hard to believe that PSG would give up four goals
against them, especially if they keep pressing Barcelona high like last week in
Paris. Discussion about whether or not PSG has what it takes to be a successful
club in Europe has been going on for years now, and winning against Barcelona
with four goals proves that they are capable of advancing far in this
competition, perhaps even all the way to the final. Barcelona has to improve their
game a lot for the second leg if they want to fight for the Champions League
title this year.
PSG have been the dark horse of this season (Source:Reuters) |
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
UEFA Champions League - The favorites
The
most prestigious competition in club football, the UEFA Champions League is
down to the last 16 teams, and the playoffs stage starts this evening. The
defending title holders and one of the favorites to win the cup, Real Madrid,
holds the record of most titles, winning the competition 11 times, Los Blancos did not play very convincingly in
the group stage, winning only three of their six games, but with a squad
including Christiano Ronaldo, you can expect this team to advance all the way
to the final again if they can knock out their opponent Napoli from the
competition. Napoli lost just one game in the group stage, and are well
equipped to challenge Real Madrid. Last year's runners-up tea, Atletico Madrid
will face Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and should most likely advance to the next stage
from this match. Winning five of their six games in the group stage, Atletico
should find it easy to get to the quarter-finals.
Real Madrid would be looking to win the title for record twelfth time (AFP) |
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
EPL: Approaching the end
The
Premier league is past halfway and the battle in the bottom half is just as
interesting as the top of the table where Chelsea currently holds the top spot,
9 points ahead of rivals Tottenham who also have had an amazing season so far
and are placed second on the points table. Nothing seems to stop the Blues, and
it is very unlikely that they would lose on such a big lead considering how
well they have played throughout the season.
20 teams fighting for one coveted trophy (Photo: PA Wire) |
Monday, February 6, 2017
Is it time for Wenger at Arsenal?
When you think of Arsenal, you think of Arsene Wenger. The
67-year old frenchman has been the manager of Gunners for 20 seasons now,
making it a club record. Sir Alex Ferguson still holds the record of 9704
days as a manager for Manchester united from 1986-2013, still 2000 days longer
than Wenger's reign in Arsenal so far.
Before signing with Arsenal, Wenger
had coached in the French Ligue-1 leading AS. Monaco to victory in the Coupe de
France, and two seasons in Japan as manager for the J.league team Nagoya
Grampus Eight. When Wenger first arrived in London 22 September 1996 he wasn´t well known to the English football world
and many supporters and even players were asking "Arsene who?".
Wenger's first major move after joining the club was to make dietary changes
for the players such as forbidding them to drink beer on their days off,
preferring white meat over red meat, and suggesting that pasta would be the new
pre-match dish. Wenger was also given control over the clubs players contracts,
training sessions and transfers for the club, unlike any of his predecessors.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Chelsea gun down Gunners in London Derby
It`s Saturday and a big day in London,
as the two biggest football clubs of the city meets for the second time this
season. Conte`s Chelsea versus Wenger`s Arsenal both teams running for the
Premier league title this season. Currently Chelsea is at the top of the table
with 56 points, 9 points ahead of rivals Arsenal. A win for the Gunners would
make the title race more interesting, but Chelsea has been in a very good form
recently, only losing one game of the last 17 matches, while Arsenal managing
to win only 5 of their last 10 fixtures.
Friday, February 3, 2017
Manchester City: Road to success
Pep Guardiola signed a 3 year contract
with Manchester City on July 1.2016. The club has a really good record from the
past 6 years, including two league titles, one league cup and one FA cup
trophy, Pep would surely be a good choice for City. His record as a manager is nothing short of incredible. 20 trophies in 6 years including two Champions league titles is
some record. He could possibly lead City to glory in the European
Competitions as well unlike any other manager has done with City so far.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Frank Lampard retires at 38
English midfielder Frank Lampard 38, has
decided to retire from professional football after an illustrious football
career that spanned over 21 years. The announcement came from the player on
Facebook on Thursday. Lampard, born in Romford, East London started his
career in West Ham United and made his debut in January 1996 against Coventry
City. He remained with West Ham until Chelsea signed him in June 2001.
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